Beethoven’s deafness could have been cause of greatest works, claims study

BEETHOVEN’s deafness may have helped inspire some of his best-loved compositions, according to new research.

Experts believe that by 1820, when the German composer was almost completely deaf, he wrote some of his greatest works.

Medical experts said his deafness meant that Beethoven favoured lower notes in his later string quartets, as these could be heard more easily.

Music experts said the composer’s deafness actually improved his later works, with one claiming that it “shielded the composer from the disturbance of the outer world and forced him to live in his inner world.”

Ludwig van Beethoven, who died in 1827 aged 57, first reported a hearing impairment in 1796 when he was just 26.

As the years progressed, his deafness worsened, leaving him unable to hear woodwind instruments and reducing him to communicating through note books.

By 1826 the composer was completely deaf, with scientists from the University of Amsterdam claiming his disability had a profound effect on his later string quartets.

The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, showed that as his hearing failed Beethoven used more middle and low frequency notes, as these proved easier for him to hear.

And when his hearing disappeared completely, he was able to disappear into an ‘inner world,’ composing music using the same vivid imagination that had marked the early stages of his career.

Study author Edoardo Saccenti, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Amsterdam, said: “Beethoven tended to use notes he could hear better when music was performed.

“When he came to rely completely on his inner ear he was no longer compelled to produce music he could actually hear when performed and slowly returned to his inner music world and earlier composing experiences.”